


Vile Scorpio

by raven_aorla



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Carlos is a BAMF, Faceless Old Woman referenced but not shown, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jossed, M/M, Whump, everything is implied, nothing graphic, vengeful chemistry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-16
Updated: 2013-08-16
Packaged: 2017-12-23 16:05:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/928448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raven_aorla/pseuds/raven_aorla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annual Crime Days and their potential abuses. (Or, yet another take on why Cecil hates Steve Carlsberg.)</p><p> Now negated by the canon Carlsberg, whom I like much better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vile Scorpio

**Author's Note:**

> Not my characters. Mostly inspired by that time Cecil read the horoscope.
> 
> Written and originally published before "Cookies" and "Old Oak Doors". I actually now love Steve as played by Hal Lublin, but I'm not deleting this, purely because so many people have it bookmarked.

Cecil is sound asleep, buried under a mound of fluffy blankets because he wouldn't stop shivering. Lacking pain receptors and being immune to most forms of infection doesn't protect a person from anguish.

Carlos' hands are steadier than he expected they would be. But that's an important thing for a scientist. Steady hands. Shaking hands can compromise plenty of experiments and the well-being of anyone and anything around said experiments.

Especially when mixing a batch of the strongest acid Carlos can manage on short notice and away from his lab equipment. There isn't time to actually go to his work space. This will be enough for his purposes. 

Most citizens of Night Vale use their annual Crime Day, as determined by their zodiac sign, to indulge in relatively harmless infractions like consuming wheat or speaking to an entity claiming to be an angel. Even if a person does not suffer legal consequences for their actions on Crime Day, their reputations are potentially at stake, private retaliations and other possible fallout keeping more serious actions rare.

A clause in the community radio announcer contract prevents Cecil from reporting on anything someone does on their day, this day, of the year. He also forfeits his own right to participate in the system. Perhaps this is meant to reduce the influence of the Voice of Night Vale. The City Council would not permit a true rival in power, or even worse a day in which Cecil could say whatever he wanted, when listeners would know he was saying what he could not say at any other time.

Cecil's sign is not applicable to this Crime Day. Today is for Scorpio. Cecil is a Sagittarius. Probably. He did not elaborate on why he is unsure about this. At the time, Carlos was focusing on checking for bleeding before coaxing his lover into the shower with him, and did not bother to inquire further when he'd had to ask enough distressing questions already. He had to stop Cecil from scrubbing himself when various bite marks threatened to get worse from the friction rather than better.

It was a good thing that a few nights after they started living together Carlos learned that half an hour of being held and nuzzled invariably made Cecil doze off. Cecil didn't need to know what he was planning.

Carlos wrapped duct tape around the lid of the now-full glass bottle so that the only easy way to release the acid would be by smashing the glass. Preferably by throwing it straight at a vulnerable expanse of skin.

The station was between interns at the moment and Carlos was concerned when Cecil hadn't come home straight after the show ended. Neither texts nor calls received replies. Carlos ran multiple red lights to find out why. 

He discovered Cecil curled in a fetal position under his desk at the recording studio, clothes torn, skin tacky with body fluids not his own, staring at the wall and making a low, monotone humming noise.

The first thing Carlos asked was a gentle, "Can you hear me?"

"Yes." No inflection, but well-enunciated. 

"Come with me?"

"Okay." No flinching at Carlos' helping hand. That was good, right? Though Cecil's immediate clinging hug, burying his face in Carlos' shoulder, made it difficult for the two of them to shuffle out the door.

"Who did this?" Still gentle. Still gentle.

"Steve Carlsberg."

They took Carlos' car since Cecil's would be fine in his special parking spot just outside the entrance. Carlos had to buckle Cecil in since Cecil only responded to direct stimuli from Carlos himself.

Carlos situated himself in the driver's seat before asking the next question. "Is this the first time?"

"No."

Only the fear of giving himself tendonitis in a town with horrific healthcare made Carlos keep a normal grip on the steering wheel rather than act like it was Steve's neck he was squeezing. "How often?"

"Every year."

Carlos observed traffic signals on the trip back, and asked during a mauve light with teal polka dots, which signified a stop of at least five minutes until it flashed paisley three times, "May I kiss you?"

"Please."

Now, having improvised with various kitchenware that he suspected the Faceless Old Woman might have arranged so he could find them more easily (she did have a soft spot for Cecil after all), Carlos pulls on his Running Around Being a Hero lab coat and makes sure his lock picks, taser, and hatchet are all still in his satchel before he tucked the former vodka container in beside them. 

Chemistry was never Carlos' specialty, though since coming to Night Vale he has taught himself a great deal that never was his specialty in the first place, especially as team members died or disappeared or fled and he decided to refuse all offers of new ones. This compound he's concocted is caustic enough to make him wear leather gloves for reassurance even with layers of glass and nylon between him and it. Pain receptors or not, a face full of this would mean permanent scarring, and maybe blindness or death. 

He leaves a note on the dining table before embarking on his mission. The note reads, "I'll be back soon as I can. I'm a Scorpio too."


End file.
